Kingdom Hearts is notorious for its confusing and incomprehensible story with a novel’s worth of backstory and history. However, KH3 is comparatively simpler... because it’s very choppy.
The main goal for most of the game is to unlock the “power of waking,” but aside from that, the storyline of KH3 is placed on the back burner to tell each episodic Disney world’s story. The real plot of the game only commences after every Disney world is completed.
And even then, it’s less of a “plot” and more of a “climax.” All the pieces fall into place that the series has built up for over a decade, and then shit just explodes. Although it trades out story beats and cohesive, permeating themes for anime battle after anime battle.
The worst part about the story this time around is with the presentation. The divide in voice acting quality between good and bad is day and night. Typically, the Disney characters are fine, with the occasional exception due to a replacement for an actor they couldn’t get. But everyone else is the most mixed of bags. The few good voices like Larxene and Xemnas are outnumbered by robotic, unemotional performances for characters such as Sora, Riku, Ienzo, etc.
Visually, KH3 is a knockout, as per the usual Square Enix affair. The worlds are detailed and sprawling and are accompanied with music remixed from Disney movies or built from the ground up. Standouts in this aspect are the Tangled, Toy Story, and Pirates of the Caribbean worlds. The quality in levels vary depending on length and the variety of missions. Some are relatively brief and fun and some go on for way too long or have you do boring, repetitive missions. Favorite world was Big Hero 6 and least favorite was Frozen.
Combat in KH3 is pretty fleshed out for as many mechanics there are, but nothing felt as efficient or faster than just mashing X and occasionally pressing triangle to do a special move. Basic attacks that would be repetitive are kept fun with Keyblade form changing. Sharp, poignant sound effects and the spectacle of watching Sora flip and fly around as you eventually power him up to double-digit combos. The specials, however, vary GREATLY in fun and worth the time.
Donald has two good team attacks, but Goofy only has one. His other sucks. Ascending forms like the Second Form is really only good for small power increases and crowd control, but Rage Form is tight as shit because you “Nothing personnel, kid” all over the place creating ten slashes per second. Finally, the attractions. I could’ve done without them. And I did. After the Toy Story world, I got so fed up with how certain attractions like Blaster Blaze and Magic Carousel destroyed the pace of a fight, I almost stopped using them entirely. Magic was only useful for healing myself better than potions and occasional fireballs. Magic just felt way weaker and slower than my Keyblade that I didn’t bother with it.
Same with Links, or “summons.” There’s only five summons in the whole game, and they range from “okay” to “worthless.” Once again, I’d rather just smack dudes with my big strong key.
Cooking in KH3... is shit. The cooking minigames with Remy are so dull and boring that I cooked exactly twice in my entire playthrough and then never fucked with it again. I never even consumed a cooked meal once. Every ingredient I found was turned into money immediately.
Lucky Emblems are probably the coolest part of the game. Hidden Mickey Mouse symbols in every world that you take pictures of and explore the area to find and are rewarded with treasures. They’re like Koroks from BotW except not quite as useful.
The LCD minigames... are worthless. What was the point of them? Little distractions? They offer you nothing for playing them and there are so many that you have to find. Every time I opened a chest and got one, I groaned audibly.
The Gummi sections have been improved with open exploration and flying through secret areas for treasure, although I skipped constructing a ship and just bought pre-set ships because I didn’t feel like fucking with the unintuitive ship design features.
The main problem with Kingdom Hearts 3 is the style over the substance that doesn’t service the game as much as it should. I found myself ignoring a number of features and mechanics I decided weren’t worth the trouble and still progressed through the game just fine. The attractions, summons, LCD games, Ratatouille cooking, all shit I stopped fucking with immediately or after a few uses. I am of the opinion that if you’re going to add a component into a game, it should be a bare minimum amount of fun and good. These mostly were not.
The saddest part is that this time around, Square Enix has chosen to embrace the Disney side more than the Final Fantasy side, because aside from Moogles, there are ZERO Final Fantasy characters in KH3. But... why though? Isn’t that half the point of Kingdom Hearts?
The last thing to say about KH3 is its ending. It’s got near-Nintendo levels of “You thought the game was over? HA! You RETARD!” The climax, while barebones in the story aspect, is pretty hype in terms of gameplay and scope. I won’t spoil out of consideration, but shit hits the fan in grandiose ways only JRPGs can do.
Speaking of shit hitting the fan, the cutscenes. ...A nuisance. They go on for way too long and are stuffed to bursting with expository dialogue and awkward anime noises the characters make way too often.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is a weak conclusion for what was supposed to be a legendary series with the highest legacy, but the Xehanort Saga was too convoluted for its own good. It may not be a dumpster fire, but it’s also no gold standard action RPG.
The main goal for most of the game is to unlock the “power of waking,” but aside from that, the storyline of KH3 is placed on the back burner to tell each episodic Disney world’s story. The real plot of the game only commences after every Disney world is completed.
And even then, it’s less of a “plot” and more of a “climax.” All the pieces fall into place that the series has built up for over a decade, and then shit just explodes. Although it trades out story beats and cohesive, permeating themes for anime battle after anime battle.
The worst part about the story this time around is with the presentation. The divide in voice acting quality between good and bad is day and night. Typically, the Disney characters are fine, with the occasional exception due to a replacement for an actor they couldn’t get. But everyone else is the most mixed of bags. The few good voices like Larxene and Xemnas are outnumbered by robotic, unemotional performances for characters such as Sora, Riku, Ienzo, etc.
Visually, KH3 is a knockout, as per the usual Square Enix affair. The worlds are detailed and sprawling and are accompanied with music remixed from Disney movies or built from the ground up. Standouts in this aspect are the Tangled, Toy Story, and Pirates of the Caribbean worlds. The quality in levels vary depending on length and the variety of missions. Some are relatively brief and fun and some go on for way too long or have you do boring, repetitive missions. Favorite world was Big Hero 6 and least favorite was Frozen.
Combat in KH3 is pretty fleshed out for as many mechanics there are, but nothing felt as efficient or faster than just mashing X and occasionally pressing triangle to do a special move. Basic attacks that would be repetitive are kept fun with Keyblade form changing. Sharp, poignant sound effects and the spectacle of watching Sora flip and fly around as you eventually power him up to double-digit combos. The specials, however, vary GREATLY in fun and worth the time.
Donald has two good team attacks, but Goofy only has one. His other sucks. Ascending forms like the Second Form is really only good for small power increases and crowd control, but Rage Form is tight as shit because you “Nothing personnel, kid” all over the place creating ten slashes per second. Finally, the attractions. I could’ve done without them. And I did. After the Toy Story world, I got so fed up with how certain attractions like Blaster Blaze and Magic Carousel destroyed the pace of a fight, I almost stopped using them entirely. Magic was only useful for healing myself better than potions and occasional fireballs. Magic just felt way weaker and slower than my Keyblade that I didn’t bother with it.
Same with Links, or “summons.” There’s only five summons in the whole game, and they range from “okay” to “worthless.” Once again, I’d rather just smack dudes with my big strong key.
Cooking in KH3... is shit. The cooking minigames with Remy are so dull and boring that I cooked exactly twice in my entire playthrough and then never fucked with it again. I never even consumed a cooked meal once. Every ingredient I found was turned into money immediately.
Lucky Emblems are probably the coolest part of the game. Hidden Mickey Mouse symbols in every world that you take pictures of and explore the area to find and are rewarded with treasures. They’re like Koroks from BotW except not quite as useful.
The LCD minigames... are worthless. What was the point of them? Little distractions? They offer you nothing for playing them and there are so many that you have to find. Every time I opened a chest and got one, I groaned audibly.
The Gummi sections have been improved with open exploration and flying through secret areas for treasure, although I skipped constructing a ship and just bought pre-set ships because I didn’t feel like fucking with the unintuitive ship design features.
The main problem with Kingdom Hearts 3 is the style over the substance that doesn’t service the game as much as it should. I found myself ignoring a number of features and mechanics I decided weren’t worth the trouble and still progressed through the game just fine. The attractions, summons, LCD games, Ratatouille cooking, all shit I stopped fucking with immediately or after a few uses. I am of the opinion that if you’re going to add a component into a game, it should be a bare minimum amount of fun and good. These mostly were not.
The saddest part is that this time around, Square Enix has chosen to embrace the Disney side more than the Final Fantasy side, because aside from Moogles, there are ZERO Final Fantasy characters in KH3. But... why though? Isn’t that half the point of Kingdom Hearts?
The last thing to say about KH3 is its ending. It’s got near-Nintendo levels of “You thought the game was over? HA! You RETARD!” The climax, while barebones in the story aspect, is pretty hype in terms of gameplay and scope. I won’t spoil out of consideration, but shit hits the fan in grandiose ways only JRPGs can do.
Speaking of shit hitting the fan, the cutscenes. ...A nuisance. They go on for way too long and are stuffed to bursting with expository dialogue and awkward anime noises the characters make way too often.
Kingdom Hearts 3 is a weak conclusion for what was supposed to be a legendary series with the highest legacy, but the Xehanort Saga was too convoluted for its own good. It may not be a dumpster fire, but it’s also no gold standard action RPG.